Latest articles by Jamie Dickson
How the Japanese guitar market found its came of age with ‘80s Fender and Gibson clones
You can’t tell the story of the Japanese guitar industry without the story of the clones – Keith Anderson of Japanese specialist Gas Station Guitars explains the history of the high-quality knock-offs that made its reputation
The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and James Walbourne on what it takes to be a real guitar hero
Kick ’Em Where It Hurts is the new live album from the Pretenders and it serves as a testament to a creative rebirth as they emerged from lockdown
Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood busts myths about how to get great high-gain tone
Getgood is a guru of contemporary metal guitar tones. Here he discusses the variables, from pick gauge to overdrive choices, and tackles some received wisdom that is less relevant to today's player
Johnny Marr on the magic of his 7-string signature Martin – and his fight with capo addiction
Since he rose to glory in the mid-’80s with The Smiths, Marr has been the king of crystalline chime. Now, he reveals how his new M-7 Martin – complete with octave G string – puts that shimmer at your fingertips
That time Chrissie Hynde enraged one of her Pretenders bandmates because she stopped playing mid-gig
The guitar icon once decided to spontaneously shake things up on stage, and ended up feeling the wrath of Jimmy Scott
James Dean Bradfield on unearthing his rare “birthright” guitar, gear epiphanies and why Robert Smith is underrated
Manic Street Preachers' new album, Critical Thinking, had Bradfield reconnecting with guitars new and old, Nicky Wire unleashing on the title track, and it is a typically unique work from the Welsh rock institution
Chrissie Hynde on that one time she bought her own signature guitar off the shelf
Turns out having your own signature Fender Telecaster stocked in shops is pretty handy when you're caught without your own...
Jim D’Addario on the history, innovations and future of the world’s biggest string manufacturer
As D’Addario celebrates its 50-year anniversary, we speak to its current chairman about the company’s roots, breakthroughs and next moves, and learn how the family has been making strings for centuries
How to get the best from your tube amp with British amp and pedal guru Dan Coggins
Lovetone pedals mastermind and tone-meister at large Dan Coggins shares his tips on getting the best from the tube amp in your life
D’Addario recruits players to help test its strings – and there's one jazz veteran who is more reliable than most
This particular player, who has been a D'Addario artist since 1982, is instrumental in analyzing the nitty gritty of in-progress guitar strings
What the auction of Jeff Beck’s best-loved electrics tells us about the late guitar icon
We join the experts from Christie’s auction house to take a closer look at the ‘Oxblood’ Les Paul, ‘Tele-Gib’ and other historic instruments from Jeff’s career – and discuss the portrait they paint of a pragmatic, restless yet peerlessly gifted talent and his musical legacy
How close are Gibson's ’59 Burst replicas and their boutique rivals?
We put a Gibson Custom Shop Collector’s Edition ’59 Les Paul up against a Nik Huber Orca ’59 for the ultimate single-cut shootout
Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera on how he found his bargain Firebird and why he has no regrets about rendering a ’51 Tele “valueless”
The Roxy Music guitarist invites us into his London studio to take a look at the guitars that he cut five decades of hits with, and tells us how a globe-trotting childhood led him to art-rock Shangri-La in ’70s London
Why today’s guitars are performing better than ever – not that you’d notice from looking at them
From Furch’s innovative bolt-on neck joints to Bare Knuckle’s revelatory pickups, we could be living through a new golden age for guitar innovation
Inside the remarkable story of the Les Paul Junior – the single-cut that changed the world
Stripped down, primal, with P-90 snarl and an unfussy aesthetic, there is something so ineffably cool about the Junior... 70 years young, it's one of guitar's hardest-working six-strings
Why Rory Gallagher’s “Kid Gloves and Walkin’ Wounded” Gibson Les Paul Juniors were two of his best-sounding guitars
They may be among Rory Gallagher’s lesser-known electrics, but these Les Paul Juniors are unquestionably among the finest-sounding he owned
How Adam “Nolly” Getgood and Bare Knuckle reinvented the P.A.F. for a new era
Gibson’s P.A.F. has to be the most-cloned pickup of all time, but what if it was used as a launching pad for a humbucker with more oomph? Getgood and Tim Mills of Bare Knuckle might just have the answer with the PolyPaf
How Phil Manzanera got his trademark Roxy Music Gibson Firebird
Manzanera’s iconic Firebird has been by his side for much of his career and began life as a custom build from Kalamazoo
Crazy Tube Circuits' Christos Ntaifotis on how his passion for collecting tube amps has inspired one of the most exciting stompbox brands in the world
One of the most creative yet reliably great-sounding effects makers out there, Crazy Tube Circuits is the brainchild of Christos Ntaifotis, an amp super-geek who is putting a modern twist on classic sounds
Leslie West on giving his Gibson Les Paul Junior to Pete Townshend after tracking three songs with The Who
West met Townshend when The Who recruited him to play lead guitar on several tracks for their 1971 album Who’s Next
Martin Barre on Jethro Tull’s pioneering ’70s era, the Aqualung sessions – and supporting Jimi Hendrix
A signature-shifting collision of bucolic folk and frayed-edge rock, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung is one of the ’70s’ most daring records. Barre takes us on a deep dive back to those fabled sessions, from winging his parts to snubbing Jimmy Page
Adrian Thorpe on how he made Chris Buck’s awesome, tube-equipped signature pedal, Electric Lightning
Adrian Thorpe of ThorpyFX remembers the flight path – and turbulence – behind Chris Buck’s Electric Lightning overdrive/boost, named after a fighter jet and packing a bona fide valve
How Eric Clapton got his tone on John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers’ ‘Beano’ album
The ‘Beano’ album has become a benchmark for how a Les Paul ’Burst and a Marshall could sound together. But how Clapton got that tone is a little more complex than that...
